College Life When Sisters Come Calling
by Pyeknu
Summary: Crossover story between the Sailor Twins saga and Greenbean's College Life series.


"College Life" Vignette: "When Sisters Come Calling"  
by Fred Herriot fherriot@yahoo.com  
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edited by E.B. Kushnir kush1@iaw.on.ca and Amanda "Greenbeans" Anderson gbeans@tyrlen.org  
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"College Life" created by Amanda Anderson, based on "Sailor Moon," created by Naoko Takeuchi  
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WRITER'S NOTES:  
  
1) Many thanks to Amanda for writing one of the best fanfics, certainly IMHO the best Haruka and Michiru fanfic, around. I, whom you'll know for "Lonely They Who Guard..." and "Sailor Twins" atop my Urusei Yatsura work, thought of this story after completing "Twins." With Miss Anderson's permission and some advice, here it is.  
  
2) This story is set after Part 15 of "College Life." To better understand the Twins, you best read "Sailor Twins" and the special writer's notes file prepared for that story, which are now at A Sailor Moon Romance and Jupiter Knight's fanfic archive.  
  
3) The Sailor Twins are my work, Beans belongs to you-know-who, ad infinitum, ad nauseam. Why do we put this here anyway?  
  
4) For those accustomed to Amanda's writing style, my own is different. Single asterisks around phrases in narrative denote thoughts. Single asterisks in speech or single words in narrative is mild emphasis. Double asterisks are strong emphasis. Triple asterisks are people screaming their heads off. Three evenly spaced asterisks centre-texted are scene changes.  
  
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Haruka yawns as she saunters into the kitchen, surprised to see Makoto already warming coffee, her slender body covered with a button shirt. Odd, she never slept in that before. "'Morning," Haruka smiles as she finds a cup in her hands.  
  
"'Morning," Makoto sighs, unable to hide her coloured cheeks.  
  
The older woman blinks, surprised by her guest's shyness. What was she so embarrassed about? "You okay?"  
  
"Just a dream," Makoto smiles, hovering between blurting it out and trying to keep it repressed.  
  
"Must've been some dream," Haruka hums as Michiru enters the room. "Morning, love!" she kisses her forehead.  
  
"'Morning," Michiru sighs, then notices Makoto. "Are you alright, Mako-chan?"  
  
Makoto sighs. Trying to hide the truth from Michiru was like wishing the sun was green. "I had a nice dream last night."  
  
"It must've been," Michiru muses. "About what?"  
  
"Katsura and I having our first child."  
  
A shower of coffee explodes from Haruka's mouth, the blonde nearly gagging, her eyes bugging out. Michiru blinks, turning to Makoto, eyes wide. "You...and Katsura...you're serious!"  
  
"Hai," Makoto sighs contently. "I know, you'd never think that I'd actually consider going through with it. But after her family adopted me and she moved in with me..."  
  
Haruka's eyebrow twitches, hiding the surge of emotions boiling in her heart. Michiru gazes concernedly at her life-mate, then back to their guest. "Well, if that's your choice, I wish you both the best. We're lucky Nareta-chan and her friends can relax and have children whenever they want, not right away like what Nokoko-san and her friends had to go through."  
  
"That's true," Makoto nods. "I know Katsu-chan wants a child sometime in the near future, maybe in the next few years; her parents've been nagging her to make them grandparents right from her becoming a Senshi. And I am right there..."  
  
"Mako-chan, you'll have equal responsibility in raising that child even if Katsura births her," Haruka warns.  
  
"I know...and I won't run from it, either," Makoto nods, then stares at the blonde. "Haruka-chan, can I ask you something?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Why is it you and Katsu-chan don't get along?"  
  
Haruka jerks at Makoto's forthrightness. What she didn't need was to have THAT subject brought up; she already got enough flak from Michiru on the problem with Katsura. Sighing, she heads out of the kitchen. "I really don't like to talk about it."  
  
Makoto and Michiru sigh as the blonde heads into the bathroom for her morning ablutions. "She's the only one who doesn't get along with her twin," the former sighs. "I know Katsu-chan doesn't show it often, but she wants to be closer to Haruka-chan."  
  
"I've asked her about that," the latter hums. "Having a sister come out of the blue like that must've hit Haruka harder than it did the rest of us. I had no problems with it when I met and got to know Nareta-chan."  
  
"Me neither with Junko-chan, even though she spends more time with Minako-chan these days," Makoto sighs.  
  
"Well, one must applaud Junko-chan's very good taste," Michiru hums, then smiles at her friend. "And Katsura-chan's."  
  
Makoto shies away, her cheeks flaming...  
  
* * *  
  
Beans sighs, trudging across the snow as she heads for her dorm after another day of making computers do their magic. It was a nice enough winter afternoon, the Winter Fest finished several days before. Haruka's and Michiru's friend had elected to remain for a while. Anyone who could cook like Makoto was definitely welcome at a college where dorm food was oft declared a lethal weapon. Maybe she could convince Makoto to stay until Dead Week...  
  
The wail of screeching tires assault her ears as she spots a car slipping on black ice, sliding sideways towards a parked van. Four women sat helpless inside, the driver desperately working to regain control. "Oh, shit!!" Beans winces, bracing herself.  
  
The impact doesn't come.  
  
Beans looks...to see the car, a Trans Am with all the bells and whistles, stopped inches from the truck's side. Shaking her head, a part of her screaming it was impossible for the car to stop before it mashed its sides in, she races over. "Hey, you okay?!"  
  
The driver's door opens, revealing...Haruka?! Beans does a double take, then notes that while everything else was her friend to a "T," even to her plaid cotton shirt, white undershirt and dungaree pants with hiking boots and knitted gloves, the hair was raven black, not blonde. Stepping out, she gazes at the snow-covered road, then sighs. "Blessed Mother Ocean, you'd think Americans'd know how to sand roads!!" she mutters in Japanese.  
  
"You alright?" Beans walks up, switching languages.  
  
Was it her imagination...or did the woman's blue eyes glow for a second?! Seeing the American, she smiles, altering to English. "Yes, we're fine. It was close."  
  
"Good driving," Beans sighs. "Learn not to slam on the brakes when you're on a snowy road; you never know when you'll hit ice."  
  
"Good point," the woman nods, then peeks into the car. "You three alright?"  
  
"No, my nerves are shot and my hair's a mess!" a woman shrills as she crawls out from the shotgun seat. "What do you think?!"  
  
Beans watches as the car's passengers crawl out. First was a slender woman with long black hair, sparkling blue eyes and dressed in a ski jacket and leather bike pants the sophomore could swear were painted on her shapely legs. Next was a blonde, Japanese in most other respects, reading glasses covering her blue eyes, at least conservatively dressed. Finally came a woman in a long plaid skirt and heavy-knit sweater, a silver haired, grey eyed...Michiru? *Twilight Zone time!* Beans nearly teeters over.  
  
The brunette Haruka catches her. "Easy, friend," her eyes twinkle understandingly. "Sorry we shocked you like that. Are Haruka Ten'ou, Michiru Kaiou or Makoto Kino about?"  
  
"Um...p-probably back at their home," Beans points towards the condos in the near distance, then smiles. "So, are you relatives?"  
  
"Hai," she nods, hand out. "I'm Katsura Utai, Mako-chan's adopted sister." Her other hand indicates the others. "And these are Michi-chan's sister Nareta Osoi, her lover Tsuyako Yuuri and our friend Ayako Maida."  
  
Beans nods, shaking Katsura's hand, surprised that for someone she would swear on her grandmother's grave was Haruka's twin sister, the handshake is full of warmth, like...being submerged in a gentle ocean in the tropics? Weird. "I'm Beans."  
  
A flash of coldness equal to the Arctic in January flares in Nareta's eyes, though her smile is very warm, indicative that the frosty look wasn't directed at Beans. "Ah, the one who aided my sister and her beloved in discrediting that sub-creature Phillips. An honour, Mame-san."  
  
*'Sub-creature?'* Beans blinks as she shakes Nareta's hand. Privately, she had to admit that insult towards the racist bastard was unique...and strangely befitting. "Your sister's my friend, Osoi-san," she smiles. "No one hurts my friends."  
  
"In that, you will always stand with us," Nareta smiles, a gentle warmth. "And please, call me Nareta. In the meantime, why don't we visit them? Shall we meet again sometime later?"  
  
"Sure thing," Beans nods. "I'm at the dorms."  
  
The four nod as she heads off, then pile back into the Trans Am. "What did you sense from her, Ayako-chan?" Tsuyako stares at her fellow Senshi Twin.  
  
The passion mistress purses her lips. "Outside her obsession with computers, she's perhaps the most fundamentally honest, decent and caring person I've ever met, even if she always insists on people calling her 'Beans.'"  
  
"Everyone has their secrets, Ayako-chan," Katsura muses.  
  
"Secrets?!" Ayako's eyes twitch. "Feh! The world'd be a much better place without them!!"  
  
In her room, Beans sneezes.  
  
* * *  
  
"Someone coming in?" Haruka wonders from the living room as a car scoots up the driveway behind their Jaguar. "Who is it?"  
  
"Can't tell from here," Michiru gazes from the kitchen.  
  
Makoto peeks out her window, then grins on seeing a certain black-haired pyxie run to the door. With that, she scrambles downstairs, a camera in hand, to watch the fun.  
  
The doorbell peals. "I'll get it," Haruka heads to the door as Michiru steps out of the kitchen...  
  
...and into firing range. "***HEART COURAGE KISS!!!!!!***"  
  
Haruka screams, leaping into Michiru's arms as they collapse embarrassingly onto the floor. A camera's flash goes off as both stare at the woman in the doorway. "***AYAKO?!?!?!***"  
  
"Gotcha!!" Ayako winks at them. "Miss me?!"  
  
"Like the plague!" Haruka's eyes twitch annoyingly.  
  
Ayako pouts, an ominous flash in her eyes. "Haruka-chan, I'm hurt!" she purses her lips, fingers rising.  
  
"Oh, no...!" Haruka trembles.  
  
"Doesn't know if it's Ayako or Sailor Aphrodite in disguise!" Makoto comes down, then embraces Ayako. "Hiya, Ayako-chan!"  
  
"Hey, Mako-chan!" Ayako kisses her.  
  
Laughter reigns as Tsuyako, Nareta and Katsura come in. Haruka blinks on seeing her twin, then steeling herself, rises. "Nice to see you again, Katsura," she offers her hand.  
  
"Hello, Haruka," Katsura smiles, giving her sister's fingers a warm squeeze. "You're looking well."  
  
"Thanks," Haruka sighs, fighting to keep her anger under control, her sense of invaded privacy violated, while standing in Katsura's presence.  
  
The others breathe a sigh of relief. One didn't need to be empathic to sense the tension between them. "So what brings you all here?" Michiru gazes at Nareta. "Why didn't you call and tell us you were coming?"  
  
"Doesn't the concept of 'surprise' ever ONCE enter your life, Michi-chan?!" Ayako beams. "Relax, we're staying at a hotel in town; Katsu-chan's family paid airfare and everything!"  
  
"After she and her parents make a killing at the horse track, I'll bet," Makoto winks at her adopted sister.  
  
"Hai..." Katsura blinks, surprised to see Makoto blush, then her telepathy tells her the rest. "Mako-chan!!"  
  
"Anytime you're ready," Makoto smiles, "I'm here."  
  
Katsura looks down, then beaming, embraces her. The content smiles on the other Twins' faces quickly tells Haruka and Michiru they too knew what Makoto had decided. How did they do that? "Hey, let's get some tea on!!" Ayako heads into the kitchen. "We've got loads of news to lay onto you all!"  
  
* * *  
  
Beans sits at her computer, jabbing away at the keys as she runs through her day's assignments. Nearby, the fish tank and its invisible resident seem at peace...until the lake god feels the tinge of the ocean on the one who brought him home sometime ago. Murky bubbles disturb the surface as he senses the presence of four great avatars of the depths close by, all of whom were close to the women named Michiru and Haruka.  
  
Now, if only he could speak to them...  
  
* * *  
  
"YOU'RE PREGNANT?!?!?!"  
  
Tsuyako and Nareta blush, holding hands. "Hai," the latter beams. "When we were down visiting Tsu-chan's parents in Nara, we sensed a school of humpback whales close by, several performing their natural duty to the continuation of the Unity. Feeling their inner joy at the conception of new life...overcame us."  
  
"Lucky thing we were in a secluded alcove on the beach; I hate to think what would've happened if we did it at my house," the former scratches the back of her head embarrassingly, laughing.  
  
"Doing it in the middle of a surf at mid-tide," Ayako hands out snacks. "You two're helpless romantics, you know that."  
  
"We've always been that way, Ayako-chan," Nareta hums.  
  
"True," Katsura smiles. "For the past six hundred years."  
  
Haruka, Michiru and Makoto blink, caught by their disbelief at their guests' true nature. What was it like, being a symbiont of two beings, completely joined unto death, with one part having been born at the time of the Silver Millennium's downfall?  
  
"Speaking of which, Ayako-chan, when are you and Matsuri-chan going to have yours?" Tsuyako slyly gazes at the passion mistress.  
  
"I'm having too much fun helping those ex-Black Moon ladies we helped when we were fighting Kughra and Nona-chan's old man," Ayako gives the herald a knowing look. "Relax, Tsu-chan. When the time comes, it'll happen. Your little ones won't be alone for long."  
  
"What about the other Twins?" Haruka hums.  
  
"They're holding off for now," Nareta smiles. "Unlike our sister school in Oshika, we've no pressing need to have children right after the Crossing Over. Besides, if we all had them at once, we'd be of restricted use in case another problem arises."  
  
"Good point," Haruka ruefully nods.  
  
"By the way, we met your Mame-chan when we came in," Katsura gazes at her twin. "Have you told her about us?"  
  
"No, she doesn't want to know too much about our Senshi lives and we respect that," Haruka sighs. "She doesn't even know about Mako-chan being Sailor Jupiter."  
  
"Well, let's hope nothing happens that requires our special services," Tsuyako smiles.  
  
"Don't be too sure of that, Tsu-chan," Nareta stares knowingly at her life-mate. "You know the old saying. Devil-sharks always pop up when you least want them!"  
  
"True," Tsuyako sighs...  
  
* * *  
  
Beans grunts as the telephone rings. Rising, noting it was seven o'clock on a Saturday, she stumbles over, then puts receiver to ear. "Yeah?"  
  
"You hurt him!" a voice snarls over the line.  
  
A woman. "Who's this?" Beans tenses.  
  
"You'll know soon enough, bitch!"  
  
Click. Dial tone. Beans blinks, then hangs up the phone. "Hurt him," the woman said. Who? What did that mean?  
  
* * *  
  
"'Morning, Beans," Haruka smiles as she saunters into the cafeteria with the others.  
  
"'Morning," Beans nods neutrally as everyone sits down, the Twins pulling chairs to relax close to her.  
  
"Are you alright?" Makoto blinks. "Something wrong?"  
  
Beans blinks, feeling their eyes lock on hers. "Um, yeah, I'm alright!" she flusters. "Everything's okay."  
  
The four newcomers tense, especially Ayako. Lies sang out to Nendo-kata. Michiru sends a warning glare their way, then stares at her friend. "Beans, if something's wrong, tell us. Please."  
  
Beans sighs, then explains what happened. The Senshi exchange wary looks. "You have any idea who this could be?" Haruka hums.  
  
"Maybe the hacker you stopped sometime back?" Tsuyako muses.  
  
"Or perhaps the sub-creature who tried to humiliate you, Michi-chan," Nareta gazes at her sister.  
  
"Both distinct possibilities," Haruka crosses her arms. "That hacker must've been plenty pissed with you setting him up like that. And Phillips wasn't too pleased to have himself humiliated in public like that; you did help there, Beans."  
  
"Why are you acting like I'm facing a death threat?" Beans gazes at her. "It's just a crank call."  
  
"Beans!" Haruka hisses.  
  
"Where we come from, certain situations are clear-cut black-and-white," Tsuyako sighs. "You may not think so because you've never been up against what we've all faced. But you did do us all a great favour when you dealt with that hacker, not to mention what you did for Michiru-chan. We do not forget our friends."  
  
Beans gazes at them, a subtle realization dawning. The steel in everyone's eyes told her plenty. "I take it you all are like Haruka, Michiru and Setsuna, right?"  
  
"Hai, we are," Makoto nods. "Look, we know you don't want to learn more about us. We respect that. But you're our friend. You helped us, so we want to help you. That's all this is."  
  
"And if anyone hurts you, we hurt them," Katsura smiles.  
  
"With your powers?" Beans gazes warily at them.  
  
"Hey, we know subtle!" Ayako snaps.  
  
"That'll be the day!" Haruka's eyebrows twitch.  
  
Ayako's eyes narrow dangerously, a predatory grin splitting her face. "I'll get you for that, Haruka-chan!"  
  
Haruka sweats. The other Twins and Makoto laugh. Michiru rolls her eyes. Beans blinks confusedly...  
  
* * *  
  
Sometime later, Beans takes the visiting Senshi Twins on a tour of the dorms. "Such intimate quarters," Tsuyako smiles as they stream into Bean's room. "Still, I can't seem to understand why Michiru-chan would feel so cramped. This is actually not so different from most people's residences in Japan."  
  
"Well, our concepts of privacy are different," Beans smiles. "Act like you own the place. Want something to drink?"  
  
"No thank you, Beans, we ate before coming down to see you," Katsura smiles.  
  
Beans nods, then stops, her eyes widening with a touch of fear and confusion. Being so used to people calling her by her handle, she automatically heard "Beans" whenever people spoke to her, even if it takes her mind a bit to realize...  
  
...that Katsura had just called her by her real name.  
  
"How did you know that?!" she hoarsely gasps.  
  
Katsura blinks, then looks very contrite. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to surprise you like that."  
  
"Foot in mouth time, Katsu-chan," Ayako grins.  
  
Sensing her guest's desire for forgiveness, Beans relaxes. "Hey, it's okay. How did you find out? Did your friend Ami find out while you were looking for the hacker?"  
  
"No, my sister didn't," Tsuyako smiles.  
  
Well, that confirmed one other thing, a part of Beans muses. "Then, how did you find out?! What are you?! Mind-readers?!"  
  
"Yes," Katsura nods.  
  
Beans stops, struck dumb by such fundamental honesty. There was not a whit of malevolence in the four women before her. Having dealt with the sly, the nasty and the overtly curious in her years of interacting with her peers, confronting such friendliness, such acceptance, leaves her fumbling for words. "What are you?" she wonders. "Is this got something to do with you being Senshi...?"  
  
"That is separate," Nareta sighs. "Yes, we are Sailor Senshi; we're recent additions to the group. We are...something else as well. We know you don't like to delve further into our lives, but we believe in being as truthful as possible when it's practicable. To us, it's unfair that you only know part of the story."  
  
"Well, I don't mind that part," Beans hums. "I mean, I know Haruka and Michiru came here to get some peace and quiet. Seeing what they and Setsuna can do, I can guess you can be as bad."  
  
"Worse," Katsura smiles, then holds out her hand. "Here. Take my hand. This'll explain everything."  
  
Beans blinks, then reaches over...as Katsura's eyes glow. The American stops. "Don't be afraid," the Nendo-kata's eyes revert to normal. "That always happens when we use our telepathy overtly."  
  
Beans grasps Katsura's hand, the latter's eyes glowing...  
  
...and the former's world turns inside-out!  
  
Images, feelings, sensations so ALIEN it nearly overwhelms her, race through every fibre of Beans' body and mind. A distant world billions of parsecs away, covered almost totally by water. A race of metamorphic squid-like beings, achieving sentience countless millennia ago when humans were still in the Neanderthal stage of development. A belief then comes into vogue. A lifelong commitment to fight for and protect the Unity, the bond between all living things in the Cosmic Chain of Life. To bring justice, truth and peace to others regardless of wherever and however evil is found. The ability to shed one's body for a new form in the Crossing Over, become one with a host society to better protect and shield it. How one such family, "school" in their terms, came to Earth sometime ago, shedding their old forms and uniting, in both body and spirit, with ten dying women who were caught in a devilish plot to destroy Haruka, Michiru and their friends, reborn as a whole second set of Sailor Senshi...the Senshi Twins.  
  
Suddenly, reality comes crashing back as Beans feels her mind again in her body, that soothing warmth steadying her, assuring her like no words ever could. Blinking, she gazes at Katsura, who smiles contently. "You understand now?"  
  
"Whoa!!" Beans breathes out, then laughs, trying her best not to scream out from the information overload. "Geez, you want to know something? When I met Haruka and Michiru, I never felt I'd get into things like having a lake god in my fish tank...much less meeting aliens!" She then stares at Katsura. "But I guess the very concept of 'alien' doesn't exist with your kind, does it?"  
  
"It doesn't," Katsura nods. "We're all part of the Universal School, Beans. Ours is a lonely task, in places even more lonelier than being a Sailor Senshi. But we are true to our duty to the Unity and will be until the day we're cast to the Black Ocean and rejoin the Cosmic Chain of Life."  
  
Beans nods. There was a spiritual caste to the people before her. Not the in-your-face preaching she was used to...but a rock-solid understanding of their place in Existence, plus a do-or-die determination to protect the innocent. A race of would-be Amazons, Beans concludes, remembering one other mind-blowing detail about these Nendo-kata. "Well, this does beat all," she laughs. "I can see why Setsuna'd want me to find a way to keep information on you suppressed. I'm not sure how anyone'd take people like you."  
  
"Goes with a Great School still determining their place in the Cosmic Chain of Life," Katsura smiles. "Relax, Beans. We won't hurt you or try to overwhelm you; you don't deserve that. But we will protect you if you're threatened. By being friends with Haruka-chan and Michiru-chan, you're part of our greater family. And we don't like it when family is threatened."  
  
Beans blushes. Damn, there was no way to resist friendliness like that! "Thanks, Katsura. That's very sweet of you."  
  
"You're welcome," Katsura stares at the fish tank, which begins to excitedly bubble. "Speaking of the one who was once so rudely ripped from his home, we should introduce ourselves."  
  
With that, the Nendo-kata place their hands into the tank, their eyes glowing as their minds reach out to touch the one within. It was a fuzzy glow, Beans muses. Not demonic in any way. Like a window to Paradise. Weird, but a tolerable sort of weird.  
  
Hands withdraw, their eyes reverting to normal. "Much that this lake-sentient appreciates you bringing him home, Beans, there is a problem," Tsuyako sighs. "He is...lonely for companionship."  
  
"You mean we have to find a lake goddess?" Beans blinks.  
  
"It would be prudent," the Senshi herald nods. "While we're here, we'll explore the area about us and see what we can find. It's sad that he's alone; he has no one but Michiru-chan to speak to and that's only when she visits here."  
  
"True," Beans nods, then sighs. "By the way, could you four do me a favour? Don't tell anyone my real name or call me by my real name in public, please?"  
  
"I swear, some people are hopeless!" Ayako's eyes roll.  
  
"DOWN, Ayako!" Katsura sighs. "It's her right to ask that."  
  
"Hai, hai, Ojou-sama!"  
  
Beans snickers. Regardless of how multi-dimensional these four women were, she wouldn't've missed this for the world...  
  
* * *  
  
The phone rings. "Hello?"  
  
"You hurt him."  
  
"Who's this?"  
  
"You'll find out soon, slut."  
  
Click. Dial tone...  
  
* * *  
  
"So how was the tour?"  
  
Haruka and Beans relax in the cafeteria, both trying to avoid the comical excuse for breakfast before them. "You have some very strange friends, Haruka," the American hums, switching to Japanese. "I never thought that you being Senshi would lead you to meeting beings from other worlds...or, pardon me, other Great Schools."  
  
Haruka looks confused, then sighs, switching languages in turn. "Oh, you know about the Nendo-kata now. They told you?"  
  
"Yeah, they did. Even watched them mentally 'talk' to my friend in the fish tank, too," Beans shakes her head, then sighs. "I dunno. They seem so darned peaceful, so content. I can't find a single reason not to like them, but they're so..."  
  
"Overpowering?"  
  
"Amen to that," Beans nods, then stares at her friend. "By the sounds of it, you find them pretty overpowering yourself."  
  
Haruka sighs. Sooner or later, the sophomore would notice the friction between her and Katsura. "Yeah, you could say that," she hums. "Believe me, compared to some of the other things we've run into, the Nendo-kata are one very nice change of pace. Most of the Senshi accept the Twins easily. I'm probably the one who still has a lot of problems with my twin."  
  
"Katsura? She's cool."  
  
Haruka bites her lips. "Let me put it to you this way. If a Nendo-kata templated herself off you, went through the Crossing Over, then saw you as her sister, how would you feel?"  
  
Beans blinks, then imagines what would it be like. She then sighs. "It'd be disconcerting, but I'd get used to it. Don't forget, it's their way of adapting to other people's societies."  
  
"True," Haruka nods. "Almost all the Senshi, the originals, have accepted the Twins. The closest pairs are Michiru and Nareta, Setsuna and her twin Yuki, and Usagi and her twin Nona."  
  
"And you're at the opposite end of the scale."  
  
"Hai."  
  
Beans sits back. "Haruka, from what I sensed of her, I could tell Katsura is grateful to you for a lot of things, least of all saving her life." At her friend's stunned look, she continues. "You know how the Crossing Over works. Without your DNA to base her new body on, Katsura's halves wouldn't've come together that night and she might've died. She owes her life to you, Haruka."  
  
Haruka blinks, then stares at herself. While the DNA that went into Katsura's new body was whipped up by Nicole McTavish before she, Nokoko Moroboshi, Yuki and Sakebu set out to find the Cold Flat Mound School, it was still her DNA. She was offended that it had been done without being asked, but she had to admit, if she was asked, "yes" would've been the automatic answer.  
  
"I guess you're right," Haruka bites her lips.  
  
"So why are you still upset at her?" Beans wonders.  
  
Haruka sighs, then remembers Makoto's dream. That had shocked her. She was envious of the Nendo-kata and their parthenogenetic reproductive abilities; if she and Michiru had that, they could finally have a family they could birth and raise on their own.  
  
Or...was it Katsura wanting Makoto as her future mate?  
  
Haruka readily admitted that she loved the younger Senshi. They had a lot in common. Both had no families: Haruka's had disowned her, Makoto lost hers in a plane crash. Both were scrappers who didn't take anything from anyone, fought for what they believed and could never swallow defeat. In fact, Haruka had been tempted to adopt Makoto as her own sister. Katsura, a near-total stranger from out of the blue, had beaten her to the punch.  
  
Sighing, she gazes at Beans, telling her about what Katsura did after the Crossing Over, offering her family as a place of refuge, an emotional support base, for the orphaned woman. "So you wanted to be Mako-chan's family, but Katsura stole that from you, right?" Beans nods understandingly, then laughs. "Geez, Haruka, you really are possessive, aren't you?"  
  
"I fail to see how that could be funny," Haruka growls.  
  
"Haruka, just because Katsura offered her family to Mako-chan doesn't mean you two still can't be sisters," the American smiles. "Look, I can guess you're estranged from your parents. Why don't you try to form a rapport with Katsura? I'm sure the door's always been open. Why don't you walk through?"  
  
Haruka blinks, then turns as a worried Michiru shuffles into the cafeteria. "What is it?" she stands, then is overwhelmed by the smaller woman's embrace. "Michiru, what's wrong?!"  
  
They gaze into the other's eyes. "Someone just called me," Michiru warns. "A woman. Same type of call Beans got."  
  
Haruka and Beans blink...  
  
* * *  
  
"Someone's THREATENED you?!"  
  
Frost seems to form on walls as Nareta stares at Michiru, the former's chilly eyes storming at the thought of some sub-creature even THINKING of hurting her beloved sister. The other Nendo-kata and Makoto are as vile, the desire to unleash serious pain raging in their eyes. Michiru tries to remain calm, the call having badly rattled her. "It was a woman," she reports. "Said the same things Bean's crank caller said to her."  
  
"Well, that narrows the list of suspects down to one," Haruka muses. "It's got to be someone close to Phillips."  
  
"But who? How do we find out?" Ayako wonders.  
  
Tsuyako hums, then draws her own mini-computer, a present from Nicole, from her purse, hooking one probe into the telephone as her other hand hovers over the keyboard. Beans gapes as Tsuyako's eyes glow, the screen flashing multiple images as the Senshi herald psi-links with the mini-computer to get to the bottom of this. "Man, if you ever went into hacking, Tsuyako, no one'd stop you!"  
  
"She is pretty good even when she doesn't use her powers to hurry things along," Katsura smiles.  
  
A readout flashes on the screen. "According to this, the calls made to both this phone and Beans' line in the dorms was from a public pay phone," Tsuyako's eyes revert to normal.  
  
"Trace the pay phone location," Haruka suggests.  
  
"It's on a street near the local high school," Tsuyako reports after another spell on her machine.  
  
"Can you tap into his personal records at the university or local municipal offices?" Nareta muses. "Maybe he has a daughter."  
  
"On it," Tsuyako turns to her machine.  
  
"You know, that's illegal," Beans warns.  
  
"With your life in possible danger, you're worried about a bent law or two?" Makoto wonders.  
  
Beans sighs. Black-and-white with these people, though she couldn't fault them for caring. "Ah, here we are," Tsuyako smiles. "County birth records show a Mary Phillips, his only child, now seventeen. Cross-check with education records shows that she's a student at the school near the pay phone in question."  
  
"Well, that makes her a suspect," Haruka muses, then stares at Ayako. "Now it's your turn."  
  
"Oh, goody, goody, goody!" Ayako hops around like an excited child getting tons of candy, then a lethal stare twists her face in a savage grin. "**I...get...to...play!!**" she licks her lips.  
  
Beans shudders, wondering if the cure would be worse than the disease. "She's normally like this?" she turns to Makoto.  
  
"She's tame today," Makoto smiles.  
  
Sweat drop, eyebrow twitch. "I hate to see what she's like when she's NOT tame!" Beans mutters...  
  
* * *  
  
Sometime later, Haruka takes Katsura on a tour of the campus. Several classmates, including James, tag along, their arousal at the raven-haired beauty in their midst plastered all over their faces. Haruka tries not to laugh; there was no way in Eternity that Katsura, even if she was straight before the Crossing Over, would be interested in any of them. Katsura ignores it.  
  
"Their interest in me was cute," Katsura stretches herself as they pass under a tree later. "I wonder what they would've thought if they knew the truth about me."  
  
"Probably be blown out of their minds," Haruka muses. "Some people have very fragile egos."  
  
"True," Katsura sighs. "Including you."  
  
Haruka spins on her. "What does that mean?"  
  
A level gaze responds. "Mother Ocean, will you stop looking at me like I was some sort of leper?!" Katsura crosses her arms. "You really think I wanted this to happen to me?! You really think I liked the idea of dying before I was nineteen? Did you?!"  
  
"Of course not! I've never once questioned why you went to Tsuruga," Haruka sighs. "Look, there was one time Michiru-chan and I nearly betrayed Usagi, when we were fighting Galaxia. I know what it's like when my life's on the line and it's a choice between dying and being forced to do something against what I stand for. I don't hate you, Katsura. I like you, a lot. But..."  
  
She turns away, thumping the tree with her fist as she tries to find the right words. "I am so envious of you at times," she sighs. "I'm envious that your family accepted you so easily. I'm envious that you are so content with your life. I'm sure as hell envious that you have your special ability to have children. And I'm envious...and there are times that I despise you because of that...for opening your family to..." she looks away.  
  
Makoto. Katsura sighs, sensing the woman's image in Haruka's thoughts. So that's what was going on. "When I did what I did with Mako-chan, I spelt everything out to her," she walks up to lean her chin on Haruka's shoulder. "I told her what I wanted and I gave her the chance to decide. She's decided. She's a big girl, now; she had to become that after what she's been through."  
  
"I know," Haruka leans her head on her forearm.  
  
"Besides, we'd like to be white knights too, you know."  
  
"Yeah, charity is second nature to your kind, isn't it?"  
  
"It doesn't have to be concentrated on Mako-chan alone."  
  
Haruka blinks, staring at her twin...  
  
...her sister.  
  
"Ruka-chan, the door has always been open for you to take it," Katsura squeezes Haruka's arm.  
  
Tears start to flow. "You want to know how long it's been since someone's called me 'Ruka-chan?'"  
  
"What, Michi-chan doesn't?!" Katsura hums. "I better send Ayako-chan over to have a chat with that girl!"  
  
Both laugh as they saunter off...  
  
* * *  
  
"So what's the plan for dealing with this character?" Beans wonders as everyone gathers in her room later.  
  
"Well, we have to find out if she is the one making the calls, then we plan our next move..." Tsuyako begins...  
  
...as the phone shrills. Beans answers it. "Hello?"  
  
"You hurt him."  
  
"Who's this?!"  
  
Ayako yanks the receiver from Beans' hand. "Hey, Mary, did anyone tell you your dad's a racist jerk at times?!" she wonders.  
  
An incensed sputter responds, then the phone clicks off. "That confirms it," Ayako hangs up.  
  
"So now what?" Haruka muses.  
  
Ayako winks. "Tomorrow, it's heartbreak time!" she gives them the thumbs-up, then licks her lips in anticipation.  
  
"Oh, say it, please!" Michiru chortles; her admiration for the passion mistress having never abated despite Ayako's often zapping her and Haruka with the Heart Courage Kiss whenever things were boring. "I haven't heard it in SO long!!"  
  
Eyebrows wiggle in feigned anger. "Of course you know, this means war!" Ayako snarls.  
  
Beans shudders even more. *Kid, I don't give you much chances with this girl!* she turns her eyes heavenward, wondering what the world ever did wrong to deserve the likes of Ayako Maida.  
  
"I HEARD that!!" Ayako snarls.  
  
Everyone laughs...  
  
* * *  
  
"Don't let Ayako get to you, Mame-chan," Haruka smiles as she, Michiru and Beans enjoy tea later. Katsura and Makoto are now trolling a nearby casino, Tsuyako and Nareta were spending a night in their hotel room's bathtub with a bottle of spring water and Ayako was prowling the night club scene to cause mischief. "She can't stand a day without causing shit to happen somewhere. Michi-chan and I've always been her favourite targets."  
  
"What does she normally do?" Beans muses.  
  
"Her main attack is the Heart Courage Kiss; that's if, of course, she LIKES you," Haruka shudders. "It basically boosts your most powerful feeling, like love, into overdrive. If she nailed you, you and Andy'd probably progress your relationship right to the marriage-and-kids stage."  
  
Beans sweats. "And if she hates you?" she squeaks.  
  
"Then you experience the Heart Mirror Shock; it does the total opposite," Michiru sighs. "If all you have are negative emotions, it's lethal. I've seen Ayako kill with that power many times."  
  
"If you seem to her to have some hope for you, you'd then experience the Mixed Passion Attack," Haruka adds.  
  
"A combo of the Mirror Shock and Courage Kiss," Beans nods.  
  
"Right!" the couple nods, then tense.  
  
The water in the aquarium begins to bubble ominously. "What is it?" Beans wonders...  
  
...as space literally *opens* to reveal a raven-haired Setsuna with a large jar of water in hand, a simple staff with a glowing crimson jewel in the other. "Hi, everyone!!" she smiles.  
  
The Senshi breathe out. Beans is still struck dumb by Sailor Hades' sudden entrance. "Yuki, don't DO that!!" Haruka pants, then does the introductions for Beans.  
  
"Hi, Mame-san," Sailor Hades shakes the stammering sophomore's hands. "Sorry about coming in like that, but Katsu-chan wanted this express delivered right away. If you'll all excuse me now, I have to chat with a time guardian about a birthday present."  
  
"Setsuna?" Michiru muses.  
  
"No, the Guardian of Forever; it's *Setsuna's* birthday coming up in several weeks. Ja nai," Hades waves, then vanishes.  
  
Beans blinks, then looks at Haruka. "That's normal?"  
  
"For Yuki, yes," Haruka nods, then stares at the bottle of water, sniffing the salt air. "Weird! What does Katsu-chan want with this bucket of water...?!"  
  
It suddenly bubbles. "Shimatta!!" Haruka backs off.  
  
Curious, Michiru places her hand in the water. Surprise then crosses her face, before being replaced by a sad nod. "What is it, love?" Haruka wonders as her life-mate sits down on the bed.  
  
"That..." Michiru points.  
  
"...is the spirit of my mother."  
  
Everyone sees Katsura and Ayako at the doorway, Makoto behind them. A resigned look haunts the two Nendo-kata. "Excuse me?!" Haruka blinks as Katsura walks in, taking the jar in hand.  
  
"This is the spirit of my Nendo-kata mother, Ruka-chan," Katsura sighs, then gazes at Ayako. "And Ayako-chan's co-parent."  
  
Beans blinks, the unreality of the moment about to knock her down. "You mean...your friend just...brought that from your...from YOUR HOME PLANET?!?!" she points to where Sailor Hades had been.  
  
"Hai," Katsura nods, gazing sadly at Ayako. "Ayako-chan and I were born of the same couple. Shortly after we were born, Ayako-chan's mother died in an undersea avalanche. My mother...became so despondent that...she took her own life shortly after."  
  
A chill falls over everyone else as those words sink in. "Sumimasen," Michiru bows her head. "Katsu-chan..."  
  
"It's considered a tragedy among my Great School to throw away the Mother Ocean's gift of Life like that," Katsura sighs. "Her spirit was condemned to haunt the oceans until some way was found for her to fulfil her obligations to the Unity. Thanks to Beans and her friend here...she now has a way."  
  
"Eh?! You mean...?" Haruka blinks.  
  
Katsura takes the jar, then empties the contents into the aquarium. The surface bubbles murkily for a moment as the two beings now there begin to converse. "Your lake-sentient, Beans, is quite unique, one of a kind," she looks at the sophomore. "What better way to make it feel at peace than to have a companion?"  
  
"Are you Nendo-kata ALWAYS so sappy?!" Beans wonders.  
  
Everyone laughs as they stand around the aquarium. "Mother, this is my template and sister, Haruka Ten'ou," Katsura waves to the blonde, then the auburn-haired woman who won her heart. "And this is my adopted sister and future life-mate, Makoto Kino. Ruka-chan, Mako-chan, my mother's name in your language would be Aijou."  
  
"Hajimimashite, Aijou-oba-chan!" both bow.  
  
Beans smiles, though she feels out of sorts since she can't sense what the others easily accept. The waters bubble in return, Michiru's and Ayako's hands in the tank as they relay thoughts. "She's pleased to meet you both," Michiru nods. "And pleased that you found such a nice family to be with, Katsu-chan. She'll always miss Ayako-chan's mother, but finds the lake god to be someone she could live with; his loneliness is quite intolerable by anyone's standards. By the way, Beans, you better get another bottom sucker so the one here could have a companion of his own."  
  
"Ah...r-right!" Beans stammers.  
  
Everyone chuckles...  
  
* * *  
  
"So what's the plan?" Beans mutters.  
  
Awakened early Monday morning by Ayako's call, the sophomore meets the passion mistress at the latter's hotel suite. "The plan is to scout out where Mary is, then get a sense of her emotional mood," Ayako muses, laying out clothes. Her henshin stick sits on the nightstand. "Once I know that, I'll make a plan of action. Chances are good, when her father got fired, he was broken by it. Doesn't excuse his actions, but if he was the breadwinner in the family, it would've hurt those he supported a lot."  
  
Beans blinks. "You sound like you speak from experience."  
  
"I do," Ayako nods, then takes the henshin stick in hand, pointing it up. "APHRODITE PASSION COSMIC POWER, MAKE UP!!!!"  
  
Bars from the theme of "Love Story" play as Ayako is bathed in pink light, a storm of hearts stripping her clothes away to reveal her pink and white sailor fuku, the Truth Chain snapping around her waist as a tiara forms on her head. She then makes a coy pose. "There we go!" Sailor Aphrodite smiles, then slips off her fuku. "Time to get some civvies on, then we're in business!"  
  
"Why not this? You Senshi don't mind being in uniform..."  
  
"If this was Hallowe'en, I'd agree with you," Aphrodite tosses the suit aside, then slips on a T-shirt and ragged jeans. "But we succeed at times because of our anonymity, trying not to attract attention. Don't get me wrong; I hate secrets and other things people do to hide their feelings. But it doesn't mean I don't blare my secrets out to the whole world."  
  
"You are a strange one, Ayako," Beans muses.  
  
"Comes from experience," Aphrodite winks, then nods to the door. "C'mon, let's go break hearts."  
  
* * *  
  
"There she is!" Aphrodite points.  
  
Beans peeks around the corner to see a plain girl huddling with some friends by the corner of the local high school. The passion mistress' eyes glow as her powers scan Mary Phillips, then revert to normal. "Thought as much."  
  
"What did you sense?" Beans wonders.  
  
"Not real hatred, just a lot of anger over her family being wrecked because of her father's hatred," Aphrodite bites her lips. "Turns out, that drove her mother away when Mary there was a lot younger. He's raised her on his own, did it really well. He tried to curb it, but when Michiru-chan came to his class, the temptation was too much. She hasn't sat back and thought about it. All she does know is that you and Michiru-chan are the cause. She doesn't plan to do much more outside harass you over the phone."  
  
Beans sighs. Personally, she didn't think about what would've happened if she got Phillips fired when that problem came up. All she cared about was stopping Michiru from being hurt. "You people ever do something that helped someone but hurt another?"  
  
"Risk of the job," Aphrodite winks, then blinks, her eyes glowing. "Well, well, well. Look who's coming up," she points.  
  
Beans looks...to see Greg Phillips himself saunter up the road. By the looks of it, the former music professor had been through the wringer...or often wrapped himself around a bottle of cheap booze. "Oh, shit, he looks strung to the gills."  
  
"That he is...uh-oh!" Aphrodite jerks.  
  
Phillips turns to saunter across the street...just as a BIG truck barrels down on him, the horn blaring without effect. Seeing this, Mary's eyes go wide. "Dad!!!"  
  
A black-and-blue blur whips past Beans as Aphrodite leaps from the alley, charging at Phillips, the truck almost atop them. Closing her eyes, she turns away as the blare of the horn races past...without the *thump!* of a body hitting a steel grill! Turning back, she sees Phillips half-buried in the snow, Aphrodite atop him as she brushes off her jacket. People crowd around her, Mary diving for her father's side, as Aphrodite stands up. "Watch yourself next time, huh?" she turns away, her right hand dropping what to Beans looks like a black heart onto Phillips' leg.  
  
The professor jerks for a second as the Mirror Shock takes effect, then shakes his head slowly as Mary helps him sit up. "Are you okay, Dad?!" she blinks back relieved tears.  
  
"I...I didn't see that truck coming...!" Phillips pants, then stares at his child. "What happened?"  
  
"Some girl knocked you away from the truck!" a student gasps.  
  
"She looked Japanese, Dad," Mary supplies.  
  
Phillips blinks, the scalding hatred he had long felt for those people suddenly gone from his heart. Shaking his head, he allows Mary to help her to his feet, brushing himself off. "Well, I suppose that really can't matter much anymore," he muses aloud, allowing Mary to escort him into the school for coffee.  
  
Beans and Aphrodite watch from across the street. "So what happens now?" the former stares at the latter.  
  
"All that was needed was for the part of him that was hurt because of what his anger resulted in...the loss of his wife, the pain to his daughter...to come out and influence some decisions he now has to make to get back on his feet," the passion mistress smiles. "Once Mary gets used to it, I think you won't have many problems out of them from now on, Mame-chan. Let's get back to the hotel so I can change, then get breakfast. I found this pancake place near here and I haven't tried all their selections yet."  
  
Beans snickers as they head off...  
  
* * *  
  
"So it's settled?" Haruka muses.  
  
Everyone gathers after classes at the couple's home. "Hai, totally settled," Ayako smiles...  
  
...as the phone rings. Michiru picks it up. "Yes?"  
  
"Um...Miss Kaiou?" a hesitant woman's voice responds.  
  
"Yes. Is this Mary?"  
  
A stammer responds. "Um...well, you see..."  
  
"How's your father?"  
  
"Eh?! How do you know...?!"  
  
"The woman who saved him is a friend of mine. She told me what happened. Beans was there, too; she saw it all."  
  
"Oh! Well, I just want to...er, say that I'm sorry..."  
  
"Mary, you have every right to feel hurt because of what some people in my country did years ago," Michiru smiles. "Those who led my people into that war...those who escaped their punishment when it ended...made Japan the way it is now, both its good and bad sides. Never allow your anger to cloud your better nature...but NEVER FORGET what happened to your grandfather, Mary. The people controlling Japan now are trying to make us all skirt from acknowledging what happened then. We need help from people like you to remind us of our responsibility to the world around us."  
  
Ayako flashes an a-OK sign, winking. The others smile, even Haruka and Nareta. "I won't forget," Mary vows.  
  
"Take care," Michiru smiles as they part, then hangs up.  
  
"Nice one, Michi-chan!" Ayako winks, giving her a thumbs-up. "You just made a new friend."  
  
"Thank you, Ayako-chan...but I couldn't've done it without your help," Michiru smiles.  
  
"Hey, like I said, I know subtle," Ayako grins.  
  
"Sure you do," Haruka snorts.  
  
Ayako's eyes narrow, her henshin stick appearing. "I told you I'd get you back for that, Haruka-chan!" she grins.  
  
Haruka and Michiru shudder, backing away as Ayako transforms, then winds up. "Ayako-chan, no!!" Katsura gasps.  
  
"***HEART COURAGE KISS!!!!!!***" ZAP!!!!  
  
* * *  
  
"Your friend is dangerous, Katsura," Beans snickers.  
  
"Hai, she is, but she really means well," Katsura smiles as she gently hugs Makoto's arm. After Haruka and Michiru got down to express themselves in very overt ways, everyone else discreetly withdrew. "Speaking of which, what say you and I head somewhere to get to know each other even more?" she kisses Makoto's cheek.  
  
"Lead on, MacDuff," Makoto smiles. "See you, Beans."  
  
"Yeah!" Beans waves as the two head off, then sighs, turning back toward the college. "Nice people."  
  
"Hey, gorgeous, heading my way?"  
  
She blinks, then grins as Andy walks up. "Hey, lover, what're you doing here?" Beans kisses him, grasping his hand.  
  
"I came to see you, what else?" Andy smiles, then looks around. "So where're Haruka, Michiru and their friends?"  
  
"They're doing their own thing; I don't think we'll get much out of them for the next bit," Beans chuckles.  
  
"Oh, that," Andy hums as they gaze on each other...  
  
* * *  
  
Neither notice a pair of sultry blue eyes watching them from under a nearby tree. "Th-th-th-th-that's all, folks!" Aphrodite grins as she pops a pink heart, then fires...  
  
* * *  
  
"So what do you want to do tonight?" Beans wonders...  
  
ZAP!!!!  
  
"What do you think?!" Andy growls.  
  
That was the last coherent thought they had all night! ^_-  
  
*** The End *** 


End file.
